Oilmeter



May 5, 1931. R. ERlcKsQN a 1,803,694

OILMETER Filed April 29, 1930 bil :which'can be easily and'4readilymounted in Patented May 5, l1931 HUNITED `STATES PATENT oFFIcEERNEST R. ERICKSON, OF DES MOINES, IOWA, ASSIGNOR 'I'O C. E. ERICKSONCOMPANY,

' ING., OF DES MOINES, IOWA OILMETER Application led April 29,

The object of my invention'is to provide an oilmeter or device forindicating the mileage at which a motor vehicle, should be greased oroiled.

More particularly is it my object to provid an oilmeter of very simpleand inexpensive construction 'which can be conveniently and easilymounted in a motor vehicle and adjusted for indicating mileage.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction, ar.- rangementand combination ofthe various parts of mydevice, 'whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fullyv setV forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which: Y

. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a portion of the interior ofamotor-vehicle having one of my oilmetersV installed thereon. Y

Figure 2 is a lfront elevation of the oilmeter.,A j Y 1 Figure 3 is aside elevationof the same.

Figure y4 is a vertical sectional viewtaken onthe line 4"-4 of Figure 2.Y

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of the oilmeter taken on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the movable dial members orbands; and j Figure 7 shows a plan of thezblank from which my device isformed. 1

It isf-well known that it is the custom of those who service automobiles`to place stickers on the car and to mark on the sticker the mileage atwhich the carwill require further attention, as for instance', in thematter of cylinder oil. A, i

It is my purpose to provide a'small, simple and inexpensive Vnovelmechanical device the car and adjusted from time to timeto indicate theproper mileage. i My device is of the kind which can be sold as anadvertising novelty and given as a premium,ory soldl as a l Y-.standardcommercialarticle.

Generally speaking, my deviceconsists of a cylinder having a series ofsight openings arranged `in a row and having rotatable bands or dialmembers on itsjinside provided with indicating charactersand soarrangedZj' 1930. serial No. 448,233.

that different indicating characters may be brought to the sightopenings.

In Figure 7 I have shown the blank from which my oilmeter is formed. Itis prefer-V ably made of sheet metal which can be readily bent and theblank has a substantially rectangular portion indicated in the drawingsby the reference numeral 10 which forms the back or supporting member.Extendingv from the plate 10 is a substantially rectangular portion 12intended ultimately to be rolled into a cylinder 14 such as is shown inFigure 2. The plate 10 has secured thereto disk shaped members 16vadapted to ultimately form the ends of the cylinder. The portion 12 ofthe blank and the end members 16y are provided with short tongues 17 and18; The portion` 12 like the portion 10 is provided with spaced slots`19 and the portion 12 at its opposite end is providedwith tongues 20.

In fabricating the meter the portion 12 of the blank is rolled to formacylinder 14 as shown inFigures 2 and 3 and the tongues 20 are extendedthrough the slots 19. The tongues 20 are provided with holes 22. Afterthe tongues 20 have been inserted through the slots 19, pin members 24are inserted through the holes 20, as shown, for instance in Figures 3and 5 for holding the cylinder 14 in assembled position.

. The lower ends fof the pin members 24 are inclined slightly away fromthe plate 10 as indicated at 24a, of Figure v3. The upper i ends ofthepins 24 are connected by-a sub-` stantially V-shaped portion 26. Itwillbe understood that the pin members 24 and the Vl-shaped portion 26.are of somewhat resilient .stiff'wireV The blank portion 12 has aVtongue 28 projecting from it as indicated in j `Figure 3. The parts areso arranged that the upper part of the V-shaped portion 26 of thelocking structure stands just below the V tongue 28'as shown in FigureSand by dotted p lines in Figure 2.

VThe blank has in the portion 12 a row ofl sight openings 30. Before theend members 16 are closed I insertinto thecylinder 14 arow of dial bands32. These are inthe form of broken rings as shown and have on their.einer Surfaces indicating @hai-aaien 34? Pret erably running from 0 to9, and regularly spaced. Their indicating characters are of such sizewith relation to the sight openings 30 so that one character may be madereadily visible through a sight opening. It Will be understood that thesight openings are so spaced and are of such size, and that the bands 32are of such size and Width, that the bands 32 fit snugly in the cylinder14 in a row and are rotatable. are placed in the cylinder, the ends 16are closed and the tongues 17 are bent over so that the ends Will besnugly held in place. The tongues 18 in conjunction with the notches18a, serve to align the parts.

In the right hand corner of each of the openings 30 as they appear inFigure 2, the material of the cylinder 14 is cut away slightly so as toafford openings 3G to receive a pin 38 on the right in such manner thathalf of the pin 38 will project into the side opening 30. The bands 32are provided on one edge With a series of holes 40 properly spaced andlocated so that a pin may be inserted through the hole 36 to a hole 40and when the pin is moved across the sight opening 30 the band Will havebeen moved for bringing anotherindicating character into the sightopening.

I shall now describe the practical use of my oilmeter and refer to someof its objects.

It will be seen from the fore-going that a single piece of metal isuse-d to form the plate 10, the cylinder 14 and the ends 16. The yokeshaped pin structure is used in fastening the piece in assembledposition. The bands 32 are of the simplest construction, being plainbroken rings as shown. The pin members 24 may be inserted into thefabric lining 42 of a car as shown in Figures 1 and 4 and an account ofthe arrangement of the plate 10 the metal Will then be held in position.The tongue 28 prevents the accident-al removal of the pin structure.

After the car has been greased and oiled the dial operating pin 38 maybe inserted through the holes 36 and sight openings 30 into the holes40, for rotating the bands 32 and bringing to the sight openings theproper characters 34 for indicating mileage at which the car shouldagain be serviced. The pin can be stuck into the fabric 42 forming thelining of the car 44 somewhere close to the oilmeter so that it Willalways be readily available.

Some changes may be made in the details of the structural arrangement ofmy improved oilmeter Without departing from the essential purposes of myinvention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modilicationin lthe arrangement of structural parts which may reasonably come Withinthe scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a plate,

After the bands 32' a cylinder at one end thereof formed by rolling aportion of the material of the plate into shape, said plate having slotsand said portion having tongues projected through said slots andprovided With openings and pin members extended through said openingsfor holding the cylinder in assembled position.

2. In a device of the class described, a plate, a cylinder at one endthereof formed by rolling a portion ofthe material of the plate intoshape, said plate having slots and said portion having tongues projectedthrough said slots and provided With openings and pin members extendedthrough said openings for holding the cylinder in assembled position,said cylinder having means for preventing the accidental removal of saidpin members.

3. In a device of the class described, a plate, a cylinder at one endthereof formed by rolling a portion of the material of the plate intoshape, said plate having slots and said portion having tongues projectedthrough said slots and provided With openings and pin members extendedthrough said openings for holding the cylinder in assembled position,said pin members being connected at their upper ends by a substantiallyV-shaped Wire element and means on said cylinder for engaging the apexof said element for holding the pin members against accidental removal.

4. In a device of the class described, a plate, a cylinder at one endthereof formed by rolling a portion of the material of the plate intoshape, said plate having slots and said portion having tongues projectedthrough said slots and provided with openings and pin members extendedthrough said openings for holding the cylinder in assembled position, aseries of bands rotatably received end to end in said cylinder havingrotating characters arranged on their surfaces and having holes, saidcylinder having sight openings for the respective bands. l

5. In a device of the class described, a plate, a cylinder at one endthereof formed by rolling a portion of the material of the plate intoshape, said plate having slots and said portion having tongues projectedthrough said.'

slots and provided with openings and pin members extended through saidopenings for holding the cylinder in assembled position, a series ofbands rotatably received end to end in said cylinder having rotatingcharacters arranged on their surfaces and having holes, said cylinderhaving sight openings for the respective bands, and an operating pinadapted to be inserted through the sight openings and into said holesfor rotating said bands for bringing different characters into positionWhere they are visible through the slot.

6. In a device of the class described, a plate, a cylinder at one endthereof formed by rolling a portion of the material of the plate intoshape, said plate having slots and said portion having tongues projectedythrough said slots and provided with openings and pin Y

